A Texas couple allegedly smeared cat feces on their children and beat them with a thorny switch. Even more disturbing, the pair is accused of brushing their 5-year-old girl’s teeth with a feces-covered toothbrush until her gums bled.

According to BuzzFeed News, the girl first said she didn’t know where the injuries came from. Then she claimed she fell on the playground. But later, she and her 10-year-old sister told police that their dad, 32-year-old James Chalkley, spanked them often. According to KSAT12, authorities found multiple bruises, in various stages of healing, on the 5-year-old’s arms and legs.

In response to the bruises, Child Protective Services took both girls and their 3-year-old brother out of their home. After medical exams and police interviews, more disturbing information emerged about James Chalkley and the kids’ stepmother, Cheyanne Chalkley, 22.

Police reported that James thrusted his 10-year-old daughter’s head into a wall while his wife Cheyanne hit the girl with a thorny switch. Cheyanne allegedly said, according to an affidavit, that she would hit the children more if she was biologically related to them.

The girls allegedly told their new foster parents that their dad smeared wet cat feces on his daughters’ faces and brushed his 5-year-old’s teeth with a toothbrush he put cat feces on. He allegedly brushed the girl’s teeth until she bled, according to My San Antonio. The father was reportedly punishing the children after he discovered cat feces in a closet and assumed his children intentionally refused to clean it.

The 5-year-old girl claimed her dad forced her to wear a shock dog collar on her back, arms and legs.

According to Associated Press, James was charged on Monday with one count of injury to a child and Cheyanne was charged with two counts of injury to a child. Reportedly, jail records don’t indicate if the Chalkleys have attorneys who could possibly speak on their behalf.